The announcement that the Gioia Group is collaborating with VROMI to refurbish part of the Simpson
Bay public dock is being framed as a ‘community investment’, but it reads more like a consolation prize.
In 2014, the government presented draft zoning plans, informed by community input, suggesting a 12-
meter height limit for future developments in Simpson Bay. That vision was clearly not followed. The
Gioia Group development, called Ocean Residences, now rising in Simpson Bay, reaches approximately 30 meters in height. The skyline has permanently changed from several angles. For example, the sunset view from the public bridge, a shared space enjoyed by residents and visitors alike, is gone. It is the loss of a public experience that will not return.
Safeguards, such as limiting height or requesting community and environmental impact protections in the approval process of the large development, seem to have been set aside by successive governments. Here is a timeline:
April 2016: The Council of Ministers decided that the height of any development on the site should not
exceed the Royal Palm Beach Resort (4 stories instead of 8 stories high).
December 2017: The Council of Ministers approved a deviation from its earlier decision, allowing the
permit process to continue despite internal warnings about height, density, parking, and visual impact.
Why? Was this decided in the best interest of the community?
February 2018: VROMI’s own Policy Department & Secretary General warned that the proposed
development, including height and mass, did not align with the draft Simpson Bay zoning plans. They
note that objections from residents should be expected. Also flagged were unresolved domain land issues and parking shortfalls. The memo warned that approving the permit before resolving these matters carried the risk that the developer might not cooperate afterwards.
March 2018: Minister Giterson still approves a building permit for a surface area of 2804 m².
March 2024: Minister Doran approves an extension, more than tripling the approved surface area from
2804 m² to 8817 m². No environmental or social (community) impact assessments were submitted in
support of the decision for this extension.
Let that sink in.
August 2025: While Ocean Residences was under construction, environmental concerns were raised
clearly and directly with the current Minister Gumbs by community members. Both the Nature
Foundation and an environmental consultant advised against filling in the beach or adding breakwaters.
Their advice warned that adding sand and placing boulders could damage coral and seagrass, and that
artificial beaches in this area are unstable and likely to shift during storms. They also noted that no proper environmental or hydrological studies had been completed.
Today, 2026: Yet as this article is being written, boulders continue to be placed, and truckloads of sand
are actively being added along the shoreline in front of Ocean Residences.
The public dock is adjacent to and in view of the entrance of this luxury development by the Gioia Group. 54 condos for sale with prices advertised online ranging from $800,000 to $2,000,000. Considering all of this, the decision to beautify the public pier “for the community” deserves a more sober read.
Corporate social responsibility should not be reduced to selective gestures by developers after irreversible changes have already been made. True government responsibility would have meant respecting their own guidelines and department advice, meaningfully engaging residents before approvals were finalised, considering the realities of strained infrastructure, and refusing to proceed with environmentally risky interventions without proper studies.
So yes, we are cynical. Because experience has taught us that ‘community benefits’ are often offered only once the community has already lost something it can never get back.
Signed,
Conservation Collective
